Letter 20070622 Harper Women in Cabinet

Letter 20070622 Harper Women in Cabinet

June 22, 2007

The Right Honourable Stephen Harper, P.C., M.P./C.P.

Prime Minister of Canada

House of Commons

Ottawa, Ontario

K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Prime Minister:

On behalf of The National Council of Women of Canada (NCWC), I am writing to urge you to follow the example of the Hon. Jean Charest, Premier of Quebec, who has formed a Cabinet made up equally of men and women.

In fact, this is a CEDAW commitment that to date only Quebec has realized, complying with Article 2 (a) of the Convention. This is a Treaty obligation which all levels of government in Canada should be implementing. NCWC regrets that most levels of government have taken so long to even begin to take this obligation seriously.

Even though Canada’s population is approximately 52 percent women, women continue to be under-represented in government and under-represented in Cabinet. NCWC has already clearly expressed approval of the appointments to the Supreme Court which have brought it as close to equal representation as possible.

We shall continue to urge all levels of government to strive toward more equality in government and uphold their commitment to CEDAW.

With approximately three-quarters of a million members, The National Council of Women of Canada is a federation comprised of Local Councils, Provincial Councils, and National Organizations. Founded in 1893, it was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1914 and has been designated by the Government of Canada as being of national historic significance for its role in Canadian women’s history. For more information, consult our web site atwww.ncwc.ca or contact our national office at #205, 251 Bank Street, Ottawa, Ontario, K2P 1X3.